The Information Highway

Posted on Thu Jan 2nd, 2025 @ 9:54pm by Commander Benjamin Jamesson & Petty Officer, 3rd Class Kiyara de Vos

Mission: Remnant
Location: Operations Offices
Timeline: Day 407
1704 words - 3.4 OF Standard Post Measure

Benjamin looked exhausted as he sat down with two large mugs of coffee loaded with milk and sugar in an attempt to try and wake up enough to be of use that night. He had been on night shift for a week trying to get his head around operations and how he could make it work the way he envisioned as well as trying to support engineering in trying to save fuel before it became impossible to conserve and they would just be able to do the bare minimum of duties and functions. He should have gotten something to eat as it might have helped his energy levels but he wanted coffee first.

Night shifts were where Kiyara thrived. The quiet artificial darkness, the vacated corridors, the mostly empty offices. They held their PADD with tasks in one hand, their engineering kit in the other. They’d work their way down, that felt like the most effective way to go about it. As they entered the offices now designated for Operations they startled a bit when there was someone else in the room. “My apologies, Commander. I can come back later.”

Benjamin looked up and offered an exhausted smile to Kiyara as they appeared in the space that was now technically his office and his crew's work space. It was normally quiet and just him so the interruption was welcome, it would stop him downing both mugs of coffee so quickly. “No. No you are quite alright Specialist.” He indicated that they could come in and do what they needed to. “Was there something you needed?”

“There was a request put in for additional data throughput.” Kiyara looked at the task on her list. It required them to pull an additional cable from the computer core to the new offices. They were tracking a lot of stuff, it seemed, in this newly minted department. “I was just coming in to connect the cable laid down by my colleagues to a new console that should’ve been prepared by some of your staff.”

Benjamin finally let out the yawn he had been trying to hold in but it came out and he was not able to stop it. “Apologies. Been a long couple of days.” He said gulping down several mouthfuls of the hot liquid before he got up, his brain finally catching up with his mouth. “Yes I did request it but had no idea if it was going to be approved with the current state of things.” He admitted rising to show where the console was further in the space now in what would be his office once the space was set up properly.

“Oh, it’s all spare parts. I think half of the tasks on here is to keep us busy and stop us from worrying about ‘the current state of things’” They had put down the things in their hands and it seemed almost as if it was especially for the air quotes used in that response. “How is the operations department holding up? Not a lot of resources to be distributed.”

“Operations is only really me and 2 other people right now so we are okay.” Or at least he hoped his 2 colleagues were okay. They had seemed so when they had caught up over lunch which might explain why he felt like he was dragging today more so than usual. “Mostly working solo right now which is why I was all alone here with 2 mugs of coffee for company.” He tried to joke but it fell a little flat. “And what about you specialist? How are you doing?” He wondered crouching to look at the console undoing the covers to allow them to access it easier.

“I’m working my way down the list. Focusing on one task at a time. There’s not been much damage, per se. But maintenance is a huge part of the job.” Kiyara wasn’t so keen on sharing her personal thoughts and feelings on their situation. On the one hand they were pragmatic enough to know that if the Atlantis wouldn’t find the resources they needed there was nothing fretting over it would do about it. On the other hand, they worried quite a lot about what other options the crew would have if they weren’t going to stumble across a clean source of dilithium ore. “They should’ve provided us with a fresh connection behind G-4.”They looked around for a moment to figure out exactly where bulkhead G-4 would be.

“Maintenance is always the biggest part of engineering and any one who has moving parts in their domain. It can make or break a department to say the least.” The man commented as he turned around trying to track down G-4. “Ah here.” He commented turning to peel off the panelling, sliding it to the left stepping back to let them in the space. He did not want to step on anyone’s toes when engineering was no longer his area.

“I think we might need to move the console a bit closer.” Kiyara commented looking at the distance between where the console was placed and where the wiring stopped. “Unless you’d like me to extend it a bit.” they knelt next to the open panel and grabbed the end of the wiring, helpfully labelled ‘ops data 2’. “There’s some leeway, and I have some wires to extend it if needed.”

Benjamin had come to the same conclusion as his colleague and nodded. “No, I'll move it specialist. You shift a bit out of the way so I don't trap you in that spot forever more.” He waited until they had moved before he shifted the console the distance closer. He stepped back rolling his shoulders at the strain. “I’ll be back in a moment.” He ventured back out to the main area and grabbed up both mugs.

Kiyara looked from a distance as Benjamin placed it nearer the outlet, quite impressed with the feat of strength they couldn’t help but give a low whistle. “Thank you.” With that they made their way back over and started to lay the connection between the computer core and the new console. It wouldn’t take long, it was all very modular and plug-and-play when it came to these vessels. It was a far cry from the disparate techs used in civilian freighters around the sol system.

"I got 2 mugs of coffee as it felt like that kind of night. If you like milk and 2 sugars there is one free." Benjamin commented as he returning placing on down on what would be his desk once the room was set up properly. He stepped back more watching more from interest than inspection on how they were working. He liked to see how things were different in this universe compared to his own.

"I take my coffee like my soul, bitter and black. Besides the resequenced coffee isn't the same anyway." Ever since the crew had run out of coffee beans they were relying on the protein resequencer to give them an approximation. To Kiyara it just didn't quite have the same je ne sais qoui. They worked to neatly connect the cable and manage it in such a way as to not have cables all over the floor. "I think that ought to do it. Give it a go?" They asked without getting up from the floor.

“Well… well specialist I do not believe that your soul is that but fair point.” He found himself laughing for the first time in days. They had a point that the coffee was not the same but he really was not fussy at the moment. “More for me.” There was nothing bad about him having 2 coffees. His heart might not appreciate it but he did in trying to focus his sleepy brain. He took a big gulp before he joined them to look at the console and started the set up procedure.

Legs crossed and looking up Kiyara seemed more like an eager child on Christmas morning than a qualified damage control specialist on a star ship. They had left all pretense several months ago when it started to settle in that the Atlantis would be in it for the long haul. They twirled the stylus in one hand, waiting for the confirmation that the connection was properly set up.

The large man waited a moment for the console to start up before he started to put in his passcode and watched the console start to operate the way he wanted it to. “Working for me and what I require.” He decided running a scan to see how it coped doing something more than logging in.

"Alright then." Kiyara leaned in to write Ops Data 2 on the back of the console using the alien pen that allowed them to write on any surface. It really was a super useful gift. They then shuffled to the side a bit, allowing for some room to push the console snugly against the wall. They then made sure to push the cables away into the predesigned gutters and closed it back off so that from the outside any wiring was practically invisible. "That should do you then." They got up from the floor and signed off on the task on the list. It immediately disappeared from the overview. A couple of seconds later a nearby PADD chirped as the requester of the task got a notification that it was sorted.

The man as he got the notification that the console had been completed. “Thanks specialist. I appreciate the quickness. Can fully get this department sorted and doing the tasks like the one you have done today under us.” He hinted softly as he got the scan of ship back quicker than he expected. Everything was operating smoothly or at least within expected range.

"I'm sure Operations and Engineering will be working closely together." Kaylee remarked pocketing the stylus and grabbing the rest of their Engineering kit. They waved the PADD with the list of tasks to complete and smiled, "things to do. Good luck with the new console. Let us know if you need anything else."